Reminder: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance Is Finally Available On The Switch eShop

Direct incoming. Hype Responsibly

@NintendoByNature

Few weeks before E3?! Nah.

My guess is that Nintendo was saving that game annoucement to shadow dropped release during the digital E3 presentation and Black Isle Studios probably didn't want to wait. Anyways the delay is okay with me as long as the game came out in the end. Heck it took Samurai Shodown til upcoming June 2021 to arrive on Steam one year after Epic Game Store paid an exclusivity deal for it. Luckily we got it on Switch before the Steam release but I rather wait for the Steam version over EGS any day.

Unfortunately, delays are something Nintendo fans are all too familiar with. 😕

@DrDaisy

Yeah it's exclusive to Nintendo fans.

It’s delayed so that Mario can be added as a character.

“We know you have been aching for an update on the Nintendo Switch release of BG:DA. Stay tuned FIRST THING TOMMOROW for an update on just that!”

I know you were expecting a comment here. Stay tuned SECOND THING TOMORROW for an update of just that!

@nessisonett More likely to add in a set of exclusive Link tunics, hookshot, Master Sword, and Ganon armor.

@nessisonett If I can't stop the darkness from invading the realm with my Toadette character, I'm not buying.

@DrDaisy I don’t know your age, but if you weren’t around for the 64 era.... Nintendo delays are not as bad as they used to be.

Yeah I picked it up on GCN ages ago.

Lemme guess... framerate issues?

Too late Black Isle ! I'm busy with Subnautica and Snowrunner at this moment !
Maybe during a sale, later...

What is going on? A problem arose and they have delayed the game instead of shovelling it out?

So glad they didn't feel the need to apologise too. Nice to see some integrity outside of Nintendo. Companies should be apologising for releasing broken messes not delaying a game - like it inconveniences anyone haha. We haven't been waiting years for this or anything.

Bravo.

@nessisonett A bearldess maul fighter Dwarf with an unusually high Dex and Acrobatics and ranks in Profession (Plumbing)? Now I know what my next 3.5/Pathfinder character will be. If I can ever force myself to play those.

In my pretty extensive experience, certification is not a big deal, so much so that I can believe it passed and was ready to go when some nasty problem was found, prompting the delay. A day one patch or a complete resubmission would be the likely culprit I’d have to thought. Most likely it’s a patch delay.

@iuli Do you know what state the original Baldur's Gate RPG ports are in as well? Those had middling reviews on release mostly due to technical issues, so I gave them a pass. Just wondering if the were worth playing yet?

This is giving the game plenty of publicity and a lot more exposure than If it released as was expected a couple of weeks ago. Smart marketing intended or not.

They are even marketing the next update by delaying it to build hype and interest

@iuli really? I had no issues :/

It runs better on Gamecube, this is why there are no Gamecube games on Switch (in Jest and for entertainment only).

Too late. I bought it on the ps store and have been playing through it with my wife. She is not really a gamer but has been enjoying helping me clear out the sewers and crypts. Brings back fond memories of playing back in 2001 when it first came out.

Meh it's had middling reviews and Pure Xbox said it wasn't really worth the asking price given how dated everything feels.

Seems weird that they can't even get Game Cube era games running on Switch though

I was excited for this game to release when they stealth dropped it... they’re taking a while.

I don’t think I want it anymore...

@geo-shifter Honestly, when I hear you say that... Did you really want the game? Or did you just want the excitement?

@Mr-Fuggles777 It's not weird when you assume that most companies rush or cut corners on the Switch port. There was most likely some sort of technical oversight in the code, and they didn't want to look like all those other Indies releasing a broken product on the eShop.

@Ulysses Frankly, it could’ve been either... or both. Nonetheless, I have disposable income to impulse-buy, and rarely do I impulse-buy.

@Ulysses there's nothing really to rush, its a 20 year old game.
If the switch can't even handle that without needing extra development time what hope have we got moving forward?

@Mr-Fuggles777 "If the Switch can't even handle that."
As I said, most likely it was not about how powerful the Switch is, but rather a technical oversight for the Switch version. Porting the same game to each platform is not as simple as you imagine.

And being a 20 year old game doesn't mean you simply copy-paste the old code and dump it onto the Switch. There is a designated dev time for developing a Switch port, regardless of the game's age, with any number of people assigned to the job.

With how badly the Switch port has gone, assuming this isn't a PR stunt, it seems to me that it was only a handful of people assigned to the job who were given a short deadline.

I'm frankly disappointed with how ignorant you sound in the midst of your determination to lambast the Switch's lack of processing power.

I just have to say, whatever the reason, I'm getting tired of Switch version always being last. Especially when it's slated for a simultaneous release and then gets pushed back at the last second.

Someone is dropping the ball hard, be it Nintendo or the developers. You don't shout out "Here it is!' and then 2 seconds later go "my bad, whoopsie."

@Ulysses at least use the full sentence if you are going to misquote me. If the switch can't even handle that without needing extra development time

The switch obviously can't handle having a game cube era game getting ported without the need for extra development time. This is exactly what has happened here regardless of the reason why.

@outsider83 I've been around since the 80s so I know what I'm talking about. Not as bad doesn't mean not bad.

@Mr-Fuggles777 Once again, your ignorance shows in your stubborn determination to complain about the Switch.

A few days delay is NOT enough time to circumvent power restrictions. It means there was something broken in the code that had to be quickly fixed.

Or it was an even simpler problem: a legal hiccup in all the hoops they have to jump through in Nintendo's sometimes obtuse ecosystem.

And your false claim that I misquoted you does not excuse you ignoring what I am saying, just for the sake of making the complaint, "The Switch can't even handle a Game Cube era game." Or am I somehow misquoting you again?

At the end of the day, you're simply miserable in your love-hate relationship with the Switch. And it shows. Painfully. And obviously.

@Ulysses you are obviously missing my point - which for whatever reason this port needed more development time for switch than any other system.

I went back and read through my comments and I never mentioned the switches power restrictions as a reason. I merely said that it couldn't handle having a 30 year old game ported to it without needing extra time - this is exactly what has happened.

@Mr-Fuggles777 Disingenuously washing your hands of your own bias accomplishes nothing.

"Seems weird that they can't even get Game Cube era games running on Switch though"

Ergo, "they can't even get Game Cube era games [to run] on [the] Switch though, [as opposed to the other console ports]."

What else is someone supposed to extrapolate from this kind of comparison statement other than the fact that the only clear difference between the Switch and other consoles is power? Combine this with your immense track record of constantly complaining about the Switch's lack of power in quite literally every other article and forum that I see you post in, it's clear to me what you were implying.

@Ulysses well maybe if the switch had more power we wouldn't be stuck waiting for ports of 20 year old games and I wouldn't have to moan about it would I.

@Mr-Fuggles777 Well at least you own up to it in the end, which is more impressive than the average joe, I must admit!

In time, Nintendo will circumvent raw power with machine learning algorithms. I'm confident of that given their close collaboration with Nvidia and their DLSS technology, combined with Nintendo's increased R&D into "cutting edge" technologies.

@nessisonett Now that you mention this, some Zelda or Xenoblade skins would be a neat bonus.

@gurtifus I hear you on that one

@TheFullAndy I could just buy a crappy port on Xbox or ps as well.

@Mr-Fuggles777 the delay has nothing to do with. Wing able to handle the game. You clearly have no clue what the switch can and cannot handle and are just trying to act like you know something when you know nothing.

“Kevin tripped over the server cord.... sorry guys, Kevin is a bit of a klutz. We can’t fire him, he’s the bosses son, but we moved him to the basement, a much safer location, so he won’t interrupt our services any more....”

I love the way people will miss the obvious answer of Nintendo doing what Nintendo does and pushing developers and publishers around as it sees fit in order to invent seemingly non-existent tech issues that Nintendo didn't think were bad enough to not certify the game.

It speaks to the delusion among the fanbase.

Interesting, I didn't know Mario was the mascot of Baldur's Gate.

@Dirty0814 so what was the delay to do with then?

@Mr-Fuggles777 There was a crash bug in the Playstation version that people reported when the game went live. My guess is that Nintendo found the bug in the Switch version as well and made them delay the release until a fix was available and certified.

And there was much rejoicing.

Yay.

Glad it's finally out, this weekend is saved at last.

Glad it's finally here. Assume still no news on if any online will be added?

But did they add stability?!

@dluxxx Apparently according to some replies on Twitter the game has numerous crashing points and AI bug outs. So not stable enough yet!

I'm looking forward to this one.

@XenoShaun goodness gracious they need to add some!

Guys, guys, GUYS... Are you CNN? Polygon? No, you're a respected Nintendo source. The way your headline reads (that they "admit" to issues) suggests Black Isle was trying to hide this. Quite to the contrary, they have been completely transparent about their difficulties getting the code to market for Switch. Jeebus, be fair for Pete's sake. No need to sink into the rabble, good people...

30 dollars though for a 20 year old game?

@mikegamer Not only that, it's 30 bucks for a 20 year old game that has literally nothing new to offer whatsoever.
That asking price would be more attractive if it would have been a collection of both titles.
But this is just way too much for something you can achieve with an original copy and a good emulator.

@iuli there’s a performance review from SwitchUp already, looks very good

I want it, have really good memories, but it´s way too expensive...

Great game for it's time when games like this were limited on consoles.

It hasn't aged terribly but it's not worth their asking price by any stretch of the imagination.

This is also an upscaled port, not sure how or why a 20 year old game with minor improvements had to be delayed on the Switch, the game literally looks like a PS2 game from 20 years ago, the delay was 100% down to shoddy development.

But none of that matters. The game is simply not worth the asking price.

@Einherjar I'll wait for a sale, no way in heck am I paying full price for this.

Picked it up out of nostalgia as I used to own it on GC back in the day. Having fun with it so far, it has some wonderfully cornball dialogue and voice acting.

No character creation? Wtf?

So tired of junk like this.... 20 years old PS2 era game, not even remastered